Bio-ship Paladin is a vertical shoot 'em up from UPL, the Japanese studio behind titles like Ninja Gaiden (arcade) and Mutant Night, published in 1990. Its distinguishing feature is the ability to transform the ship between different forms, each with its own fire pattern, instead of just stacking linear power-ups like most of the genre.
It was overshadowed by contemporary giants like Toaplan or Compile, but for those revisiting UPL's catalog it's one more example of the odd, somewhat clumsy identity that characterized the studio: interesting ideas, uneven execution, and a guaranteed spot in any serious survey of the era's Japanese shooter.
If you liked this one
